Recent News

The Los Angeles Hockey Officials Association Board of Directors concluded its annual meeting which begins the 31st season! The Board of Directors would like to thank Michel Voyer for his service on the board for the past 30 years. Michel won’t hold a seat anymore but he will still be leading the charge in developing our officials for the junior and pro ranks. 

In with the new! Congratulations to Jordan Watt who ran in this years election and won a board seat. He along with Brett Martin and Scott Workman will occupy board seats for the next three years. 

71% of the LAHOA members voted in this years election. Thanks in part to Ira Derdiger and Chuck Martin for making this possible! While 71% is a great number, Ira and Chuck look to build on. Be on the lookout for our ramped up election next year

Beginning this season, Executive board member positions are two year terms. The Board would like to thank Sara Parras for handling the duties of treasurer for the past two seasons. At this time The Board would like to introduce Matt Zucker as the new treasurer for the 22-23 & 23-24 seasons. The rest of the executive board remained the same. Their terms expire in 2024. 

During the annual meeting, President Louis Magnifico appointed Todd Siegal the Director or Development for LAHOA. Arthur Kitano also announced that Todd will be the Referee in Chief for the ADHSHL. Art will assume the role of ADHSHL Director of Officials. LAHOA would like to congratulate Todd on his new roles this season!

THE BEN ALLISON AWARD

In 2016, the Ben Allison Award was created to recognize deserving officials in the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program. The award is voted on by 150 members of the USA Hockey Officiating Development Program and is given to the official that best represents the characteristics that made Ben a special person and official, including always giving 100 percent on the ice and representing USA Hockey in the finest manner. The award will be presented on an annual basis. Allison was a level three USA Hockey certified official, who was tragically killed in January 2015 at the age of 20. A native of Royal Oak, Michigan and a student at Illinois State University, he had been officiating for eight years and was a part of the Officiating Development Program for three years at various levels, including the NAHL.

The NHL, AHL and ECHL will be starting their season’s this week. LAHOA would like to acknowledge it’s officials who are working professional hockey this season! Below, you will find the LAHOA officials who have been in hockey for multiple seasons. I would like to recognize Mike McBain and Steven Berry as our most veteran officials this season. This will be Mike’s 13th season and this will be the 17th season for Steven!

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS goes to our first year pro’s:

• Tyler Hascall – ECHL – Referee
• John Lindner – ECHL – Referee
• Phil Kasko – AHL Referee
• Jordan Watt – AHL – Referee
• Eric Anderson – AHL – Linesman
• Ben DuBow – AHL – Linesman
• Tatu Kunto (SDHRA) – AHL – Referee

Adam Bell

Linesman

AHL

7th Pro Season

Steven Berry

Linesman

AHL

17th Pro Season

Neil Campbell

Linesman

AHL

8th Pro Season

Niko Diehr

Linesman

AHL

7th Pro Season

Jacob Fraser

Linesman

AHL

7th Pro Season

Brett Martin

Linesman

AHL

11th Pro Season

Mike McBain

Linesman

AHL

13th Pro Season

Eric McDonald

Linesman

AHL

5th Pro Season

JM McNulty

Linesman

AHL

12th Pro Season

Tanner Nua

Linesman

AHL

8th Pro Season

Alec Rounds

Referee

AHL, ECHL

4th Pro Season

Steve Walsh

Linesman

AHL

11th Pro Season

Andrew Wilk

Referee

AHL, ECHL, DEL

10th Pro Season

Trevor Wohlford

Referee

ECHL

2nd Pro Season

The Jamie Huntley-Park Pacific District Women’s Officiating Camp was held in Portland, Oregon from September 23rd-26th. LAHOA officials Nichole Godwin, Rebecca McFarland, and Sara Parras were in attendance along with nine other women from Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Montana. Named for previous camp director Jamie Huntley-Park, a renowned figure in the hockey community who was tragically killed in a car accident on June 4th, the camp aims to train, promote, and empower women in officiating throughout the district and beyond. 

Traditionally four days of classroom, off-ice testing and workouts, on-ice testing and training, game simulations, and team building activities, this year’s gathering included a new and powerful addition: 2021 Camp Directors Kendall Hanley, Jackie Spresser, and Alisha Hanrahan shared personal stories about working with and knowing Huntley-Park. “It’s important to us that you know who she was so you can uphold her values and continue her legacy both on and off the ice,” said Spresser.  NHL referee Ian Walsh made a classroom appearance to share video clips and joined the participants on the ice for an afternoon of power skating. The attendees received on-ice shadowing, video feedback on in-game timing and positioning, and scores for IIHF skating and off-ice testing.

Congratulations to all the participants on a successful camp! 

The LAHOA Board of Directors is excited to announce that 7 officials will work the Arizona Rookie Face-off!

Referees:

• Andrew Wilk
• Alec Rounds
• Phil Kasko

Linesman:

• Neil Campbell
• Eric Anderson
• Benjamin Dubow

Tatu Kunto from SDHRA will also be joining the crew as a referee.

The Arizona Coyotes the 2021 “Rookie Face-off” tournament from September 17-20 at Gila River Arena and the Ice Den Scottsdale. The tournament will include four teams from the Pacific Division (Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose and Vegas) and two from the Central Division (Arizona and Colorado).

The Rookie Face-off tournament, which features the top prospects from each club participating, was held in Las Vegas in 2018 and Irvine in 2019.

Streaming information can be found at arizonacoyotes.com/rookiefaceoff.

Friday, September 17, 2021

• 3:00 pm – Los Angeles at Colorado (Ice Den)
• 5:00 pm – San Jose at Anaheim (Ice Den)
• 7:30 pm – Vegas at Arizona (Gila River Arena)

Sunday, September 19, 2021

• 2:00 pm – Vegas at San Jose (Ice Den)
• 4:00 pm – Colorado at Anaheim (Ice Den)
• 6:30 pm – Los Angeles at Arizona (Gila River Arena)

Monday, September 20, 2021

• 9:00 am – San Jose at Colorado (Ice Den)
• 11:00 am – Los Angeles at Vegas (Ice Den)
• 12:00 pm – Anaheim at Arizona (Gila River Arena)

LAHOA is excited to announce the AMAZING accomplishments of its USA Hockey Officiating Development Officials!

Tyler Hascall

John Lindner

USHL

Clark Cup Finals

Trevor Wohlford

SPHL

Presidents Cup

Caleb Andrade

USHL

Conference Finals

Phil Kasko

NAHL

First Round Playoffs

The LAHOA Board of Directors would like to congratulate the FIVE officials that worked USA Hockey Nationals this year. You may or may not know but USA Hockey Level 4 Officials all get invites to National Championship. They get notified in February and asked for their availability on which tournaments they are interested in working. Let’s give a big shout out to the following officials!

Girls Tier II 14u, 16u & 19u – Denver, CO – April 29th-May 3rd

Brent Tubbs – Girls’ 16u semifinals and the Girls’ 19u quarterfinals!

Rebecca MacFarland – Referee’d the 14u semifinal and lined the final!

Dylan Freed – 14u semifinal!

Matthew Zucker – 14u quarterfinal!

High School – Omaha, NE – April 15th-19th

Chris Arvizu – Linesman for the semifinal!

Congratulations to our officials! Lets send 10 next year to USA Hockey Nationals!

LAHOA would like to congratulate James Parker on his retirement from professional hockey. James, a former LAHOA board member and president, worked his final professional game Friday, May 7th in Irvine. 14 months after it has actually been scheduled. James was originally set to retire at the end of the last season but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed his game. James skating a game between the San Diego Gulls and the Ontario Reign. Basically the Kings vs the Ducks. The game featured a few fights but no fans. Well, almost no fans. James’ wife and kids were made special exemptions and were allowed to attend the game. Skating along side James was fellow LAHOA official, Michael McBain.

James’ career started right here in Southern California when he was 16. He attended California Referee School where camp director Michel Voyer took notice. When he was 18, he picked up a job as a linesman in a inline hockey league called, Roller Hockey International (RHI). The Anaheim Bullfrogs and the LA Blades played in this league with home games at the Honda Center, formerly the Arrowhead Pond, and the Forum, formerly the Great Western Forum. Michel, who had helped James get a spot in the RHI then called Derek Martin who was with the International Hockey League (IHL) which was the main feeder in to the NHL at the time. At the age of 19, James worked as a linesman in the the IHL. A few years later, James found himself moving over to be a referee. He began refereeing games in the IHL and the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) now the ECHL. The Long Beach Ice Dogs played in that league. James’ path to success continued when Bryan Lewis, with the NHL came calling. The NHL had a program called the Officials Trainee Program. They would send James all over the country and even Canada to work games in various leagues such as the QMJHL, OHL and the WHL to name a few.

I’ve told this to countless people but only 80 something people in the world are able to be NHL officials. Different factors can come into play as to why an official makes the NHL or not. James, while pursuing the NHL, graduated college and become a teacher, married and had children. He continued to work professional hockey locally. He also served as the president of LAHOA! James has work a number of finals and playoffs but last season, James and fellow LAHOA official, Brent Tubbs, worked the AHL All-Star game in Ontario.

James will continue to serve as one of the Anaheim Ducks video replay coordinators for home games and you will for sure see him teaching seminars and skating SCAHA, CAHA, ADHSHL, etc. games in an effort to help the next generation of LAHOA officials get to higher levels of hockey and maybe the NHL!

Congratulation on a great career, James!

The LAHOA Board of Directors would like to congratulate Rebecca McFarland, Jordan Watt, Dylan Freed and Brea Benedict on their selection to work the 2021 Pacific District Championship Tournament! The tournament was held April 8-11 in the Phoenix, AZ metro area with the games being played in Scottsdale and Chandler. The officials represented themselves and LAHOA well! Dylan worked the lines of the Boy’s 15u AAA Championship. Rebecca refereed the Girl’s 14u AAA Championship. Brea lined the Girl’s 14u AA Championship and Jordan was selected to referee the Boy’s 14u AAA Championship! Great job officials!

The LAHOA Board of Directors would like to congratulate Dylan Freed on his selection to work the NA3HL playoffs! What is the NA3HL? It is the Tier 3 league for the NAHL! Hence the 3… Dylan has worked 28 games this season in the NA3HL. Having refereed 19 and lined 9. He has been assigned to the semifinals in the Frontier division. The best-of-3 game series will feature the #2 seed Great Falls Americans vs the #3 seed Gillette Wild. Game 1 will be played in Gillette, WY on Thursday, April 1st, and will continue in Great Falls, MT for games 2 and 3. Dylan has been assigned to line game 1 and will referee game 2 and the if necessary game 3! The winner of the series will move on to the division finals with a chance to advance to the Fraser Cup which is the championships for the NA3HL. Dylan, perhaps, is in the running for that as well! In talking to Dylan, he is very humbled by this selection, as this season was his first in the league. This season has been a HUGE learning experience for him, given the circumstances. He said he will do his best to represent LAHOA well!

Congrats to Dylan on his playoff assignments!